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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Happy Canada Day!

Today is Canada Day, formerly Dominion Day (why do I, an unaffected foreigner far from that frosty land find it so hard to make the change?) which is the national Canadian holiday celebrating the day in 1867 that the British North America Act was passed creating the single, united Dominion of Canada that we all know today. From what I have heard and seen for myself in Canada one July 1, one of the important aspects of Dominion Day (oh, I mean Canada Day of course) which is forgotten amongst all the feasting, frivolity and fireworks; that is, of course (ta da!) the Monarchy! Much like other countries I suppose the whole history of the founding seems to be glossed over and in the case of Canada, perhaps it is not surprising, that the obsession with the United States was there from the start. Canadians had just watched the War Between the States, the bloodiest war in American history, and in fact Canada was almost embroiled in the conflict as well. Canadians wanted to come together as a single country within the British Empire to ensure that such a thing did not happen to them. It was also the recent horrors south of the border that made the Canadian Founding Fathers emphasize in their documents the importance of the Monarchy. They had also planned to name the country the Kingdom of Canada but changed it to Dominion of Canada for fear that the word "kingdom" would anger the staunchly republican United States still basking in the hyper-nationalist glow of their victory over the Confederacy. However, the Canadian founders were very clear that one important lesson the war in the States taught them was that an elected politician, a President, is a poor substitute for the unity and national solidarity that a monarch provides. In that, they have been proven correct by time. So, to all the loyal subjects of Her Majesty the Queen of Canada The Mad Monarchist extends a hearty Happy Canada Day/Fête du Canada!